The ugly city is home to hundreds of stories. This is one of them.

This afternoon in San Antonio, a dead body will bring together a handful of strangers. Greed, lust and fear will drive them to further desperate acts. A vagrant vet, a stripper, and a slum lord are all players in this dance, key components in the ballad of the cop's gun.

C. C. Blake's approach to crime fiction adds a modern spin to the stylings of James M. Cain, John D. MacDonald and Mickey Spillane to create suspense thrillers that have surprised and engaged his readers. "The Ballad of the Cop's Gun" is his take on the inner city drama, echoing works like MacDonald's The Neon Jungle and Spillane's Dead Street.